Stack-forming conveyor device for data cards



Dec. 14, 1965 E. EISSFELD ETAL 3,223,409

STACK-FORMING CONVEYOR DEVICE FOR DATA CARDS Filed Feb. 4, 1963 2Sheets-Sheet 1 FlG.l

Dec. 14, 1965 E. EISSFELD ETAL STACK-FORMING CONVEYOR DEVICE FOR DATACARDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 4, 1963 United States Patent C)STACK-FQRMING CONVEYOR DEVICE FOR DATA CARDS Erich Eissfeid, Munich, andLothar Babisch, Munich- Pasing, Germany, assignors to Siemens & HalslreAlctiengesellschaft, Berlin, Germany, a corporation of Germany FiledFeb. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 256,171

Claims priority, application Germany, Feb. 5, 1962,

15 Claims. ((31. 271-71) Our invention relates to devices for conveyingand stacking of card-shaped data carriers which arrive in a seriesarrangement and are to be stacked onto one another in a lay-offcompartment, collecting box or the like.

In data processing equipment operating with punched cards or othercard-shaped data carriers, there is the pro-blem of reliably placingsuch data carriers without damage into the layoff compartment despitethe fact that the cards are being conveyed to the lay-off location at ahigh travelling speed. Simply decelerating the travelling cards shortlybefore they arrive at the lay-off location does not solve the problem.This is because, for highest operating speed of the equipment at a givenconveying speed of the cards, the distance between successive cards mustbe kept small, but then the cards hit against the decelerated precedingcards thus causing damage to the cards, or clogging and other faultyoperation.

It is an object of our invention to eliminate such difiiculties and toafford a high conveying speed of the data carriers as well as thedesired reduction in speed shortly ahead of the lay-off location,without entailing the danger of trouble.

To this end, and in accordance'with a feature of our invention, weprovide the conveying and stacking device for the data cards withdeflecting means near the stacking location which deflect the end of apreceding card out of the plane of the next arriving card, and wefurther provide means for braking the preceding cards then to be issuedfrom the device. As a result, each card just arriving in the stackingdevice will shoot over part of the preceding card into overlappingrelation thereto. Thus the two cards greatly reduce the mutual spacingof their midpoints without disturbing each other, and the preceding cardcan freely leave the stacking device, for example to be dropped into acollecting container or compartment.

According to another feature of our invention, we provide for theabove-mentioned braking of the issuing cards by operating the feedrollers for the arriving and the issuing cards at respectively differentperipheral speeds, the peripheral speed for the issuing cards beingsmaller than that of the feed rollers that convey the arriving cardsinto the stacking device. In cases where the lay-off compartment for thecards is not to be located immediately behind the stack-forming device,it is anyhow necessary to equip the device with feed rollers for theissuing cards. For that reason it is particularly advantageous andresults in a considerable simplification if the just-mentioneddifference in feed-roller speeds is used for braking the travel speed ofthe cards.

According to another feature of our invention, the means for deflectingthe cards consist essentially of two rotating deflector members,preferably blade wheels, arranged on opposite sides of the card travelpath and having mutually opposed directions of rotation. The bladewheels pass with their radially projecting blades over or beneath theedge of the card issuing from the device and force its rear ends out ofthe plane of the next arriving card, so that the latter can shoot overor under the preceding card.

According to a preferred embodiment of the feature last mentioned, therotational aXes of the blade wheels are inclined relative to a directionnormal to the arriving cards or toward the direction of the leaving(issuing) cards. This permits arranging the active blade surfaces of theblade wheels in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, thusavoiding undesired blowing effects which the blade wheels otherwise mayhave.

According to still another feature of our invention, the means fordeflecting the cards comprise two stack-forming rollers whose respectiveaxes extend substantially parallel to the lateral sides of the cardtravel path and which rotate in mutually opposed directions. The tworollers are pro vided with longitudinal slots extending along theperipheral surface and following each other around the periphery. Eacharriving card runs into one of the slots of each roller and is thendeflected by rotation of the rollers. Each subsequently arriving cardenters into another slot of each roller. Since in such a device thecards are guided by the roller slots along a relatively large distance,the cards need not be particularly stiff for reliable performance.

The above-mentioned and more specific features of our invention will beapparent from the embodiments of card conveying and stacking devicesaccording to the invention illustrated by way of example on theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows schematically and in perspective a device with an inclinedguide surface for deflecting the cards.

FIG. 2 shows in a similar manner another device, equipped with twoopposingly rotating blade wheels for deflecting the cards.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic and explanatory illustration corresponding insubstance to a section along the line A-B in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show in schematic perspective two further conveying andstacking devices with two opposingly rotating slot-ted rollers.

The same reference numerals are applied in all illustrations forrespectively similar components. In all embodiments, the cards I arrivefrom the right at relatively high conveying speed. The cards leaving thedevice are denoted by 2. The arriving cards 1 are being forwarded intothe device by a pair of feed rollers 3. The issuing cards 2 are conveyedout of the device and into a lay-off compartment (not shown) by means ofanother pair of feed rollers 4. The peripheral speed of the feed rollers3 for the arriving cards 1 is three times as large as the speed of thefeed rollers 4 for the leaving cards 2. As a result, the leaving cards 2are so considerably declerated that, when the mutual spacing between thearriving cards is small, they are usually caught up by the next arrivingcards 1. However, other braking means are also applicable. For example,the cards 2 may be pressed by one or more springs, for example leafsprings, against a surface, such as the supporting surface 5, so thattheir speed is braked frictionally.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the rear edge of the leaving card 2is deflected out of the plane of the arriving card 1 by means of a sheetmember 5 which forms an inclined plane. The arriving card 1 runs ontothe inclined surface of member 5 and thus is deflected. That is, theleading edge of the card 1 in the illustrated embodiment is turnedupwardly. As soon as the card 1 leaves the feed rollers 3 and entersbetween the feed rollers 4, its rear end turns downwardly due to thestiffness of the card. The card then is in the position of card 2, andthe subsequent card 1 shoots beyond the rear edge of the preceding,braked card 2 into overlapping relation thereto. This takes place eachtime the distance of the next following card 1 is not so large that itno longer catches up with the preceding card 2.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is equipped with blade wheels 6 fordeflecting the .rear edge of the leading card away from the plane of thearriving card. The blade wheels 6 are provided with individual blades 7or lugs which are arranged in a plane perpendicular to the rotationalaxes 8 of the respective blade wheels. The axes 8 are slightly inclinedwith respect to a direction normal to the arriving cards 1, or withrespect to the direction of the leading cards 2 (FIG. 3) issuing fromthe device. Since the rotational axis 8 of each wheel 6 is normal to thesurface plane of the blades 7, the blade wheels 6 do not operate asfans. Due to the rotation of the blade wheels 6 and the inclination oftheir rotational axes 8, the blades 7 pass over the leading card 2 anddeflect it out of the plane of the arriving card 1. The peripheral speedof the blades 7 is preferably larger than the travel speed of theissuing cards 2.

The device shown in FIG. 4 is provided with slotted rollers 10 whichoperate as stack-forming as well as deflecting means. Each of thestacking rollers 10 has slots 11 extending along generatrix lines of thecylindrical periphery. The slots are uniformly distributed over theentire circumference. The rotational axes 12 of the rollers 10 areapproximately parallel to the outer limit of the card-conveying path.The perpihery and arrangement of the rollers 10, particularly thedistance between their respective axes, are such that the cards 1, 2 canbe conveyed forward only along the slots 11. The rollers 10 rotate inmutually opposed direction as indicated by arrows 13. Each arriving cardpasses into one slot of each roller and is moved downward by rotation ofthe rollers. Each arriving card 1 enters into another slot 11, forexample the next following or the second following slot, depending uponthe distance between the cards on their conveying travel to the device.Thus, each card, while passing along the rollers, is simultaneouslymoved downwardly. The ridges 14 between the slots are rounded tofacilitate entrance of the cards into the slots and prevent damaging thecards.

Aside from the illustrated means for deflecting the cards 2 out of theplane of the arriving cards 1, various other means are applicable, forexample helical or worm gears mounted and rotating in the mannerdescribed above with reference to the blade wheels 6, in which case therotational axis of the gears may or may not be inclined with respect toa direction perpendicular to the plane of the arriving cards 1.

It will be understood that a box or compartment for collecting the cardsmay be located immediately at the left of the illustrated device, sothat the cards individually issuing from the device will drop into thecompartment where the desired stack is formed from the cardssuccessively arriving in the device.

FIG. shows a particularly advantageous embodiment of the latter type inwhich the braking means are combined with the stack-forming rollers.Since the device partly corresponds to that of FIG. 4, only thedifferences need be described.

Mounted on each roller at the end of each longitudinal slot 11 is aV-shaped pair of leaf springs. The springs of each pair have one endsubstantially flush with the respective lateral walls of the slot. Theother spring ends in each pair press against each other. When the cardshoots into a slot, it runs between the two springs of the pair andforces them apart, thus being subjected to frictional braking. Such adevice has the advantage that successive cards do not mutually engage atall as long as they travel at appreciable speed or if the speeds ofsuccessively arriving cards are appreciably different from each other.This fully eliminates any danger of damage to the card edges or punchedholes, and the spacing between successively arriving cards can be givenany desired amount.

The portion of each roller that carries the leaf spring 15 may beintegral with the roller body or may be produced as a separatestructural part.

Since the decelerating travel of the cards may have different lengths,due to inevitable tolerances of the respective cards, the device isfurther provided with a slowly rotating roller 17 upon which the cardsWill drop after they are decelerated and downwardly ejected from theslotted rollers 10. The roller 17 then pushes the cards forward untilthey hit against the front wall 19 of the layoff magazine. The distancebetween the axis of roller 17 and the front wall 19 of the magazine ismade equal to one card length plus one-half the diameter of the roller17, and the distance of the magazine front wall 19 from the exit edge ofthe leaf springs 15 on the slotted rollers 10 is at least equal to themaximal braking travel distance of the cards 1.

In order to secure a satisfactory ejection of the decelerated cards fromthe stacking rollers 10, and to prevent edging of the cards about theirlongitudinal axes due to non-simultaneous release of the cards from theleaf springs 15, the device is further provided with an inclined guide.wall or sheet 16 spaced forward from the stacking rollers and locatedapproximately at the height of their axes. The front edge of eacharriving card 1, after passing beyond the leaf springs 15, hits againstthe inclined surface of the guide wall 16 and is thereby deflecteddownwardly so that it enters between the side walls 18 of the lay-offmagazine before the rear end of the card is released from the stackingrollers 10. Such an arrangement is also of advantage in conjunction withthe preceding embodiments, if it is desired to prevent edging orinclination of cards as they are stacked between lateral surfaces.

In embodiments of the type shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the slots 11 of thestacking rollers 10 may also be given an arrangement that is notaccurately parallel to the roller axes but is slightly askew, forexample helical, in such a manner that the front end of each slot 11, orthe leaf spring pair 15 in FIG. 5, will travel at the angular speed ofthe roller 10 just such a distance that a card shooting into the slot isguided on its entire slot path in parallel relation to the axes of thestacking rollers 10 and preferably at the height of these axes. Thisaffords the assurance that each card 1 is held on both sides along thefull axial length of the ridges 14, up to the leaf springs 15 in theembodiment of FIG. 5. For the same purpose the rollers 10 may be given asomewhat conical shape with the slots 11 extending parallel togeneratrix lines.

Upon a study of this disclosure it will be obvious to those skilled inthe art that various modifications are applicable and that the inventioncan be given embodiments other than particularly illustrated anddescribed herein, without departing from the essential features of ourinvention and within the scope of the claims annexed hereto.

We claim:

1. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said arriving cards, feed means forissuing the cards from the device, said feed means being spaced forwardfrom said conveying means in the conveying direction of the latter, carddeflector means mounted between said conveying means and said feed meansand engageable with the cards for deflecting the rear end of the issuingcards from said entering plane of the arriving cards, said deflectormeans comprising two blade Wheels mounted on opposite sides respectivelyof the card conveying path and having radially protruding bladesengageable with respective lateral portions of the cards for deflectingthe cards, said blade wheels having mutually opposed directions ofrotation and the blades of each blade wheel having substantially planarsurfaces extending at a right angle to the rotational axis of said bladewheel, said axis being inclined to the plane of the card to cause saidblades when rotating to deflect the card, and braking means forretarding the issuing cards.

2. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means having first feed rollers for the arrivingcards and defining an entering plane for said arriving cards, secondfeed rollers for issuing the cards from the device, said second feedrollers being spaced forward from said first feed rollers in the cardconveying direction and having a lower card feeding speed than saidfirst rollers for braking the speed of the issuing cards, card deflectormeans mounted between said first and second feed rollers and engageablewith the cards for deflecting the rear end of the issuing cards fromsaid entering plan-e of the arriving cards, said deflector meanscomprising two blade wheels mounted on opposite sides respectively or"the card conveying path and having radially protruding blades engageablewith respective lateral portions of the cards for deflecting the cards,said blade Wheels having mutually opposed directions of rotation and theblades of each blade wheel having substantially planar surfacesextending at a right angle to the rotational axis of said blade wheel,said axis being inclined to the plane of the card to cause said bladeswhen rotating to deflect the card.

3. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behind said conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, and braking means mounted on said rollers and engageable with thecards in said slots for decelerating the card travel speed.

4. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behind said conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means .in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation. for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, and braking means mounted on said rollers and engageable with thecards in said slots for decelerating the card travel speed, said brakingmeans comprising springs mounted at the rear ends of said slots relativeto the card travel direction and frictionally engageable with the cardsin said slots.

5. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behind said conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, and braking means mounted on said rollers and engageable with thecards in said slots for decelerating the. card travel speed, saidbraking means comprising V-shaped pairsof leaf springs mounted at therear ends of said slots relatlve to said conveying direction, each ofsaid pairs having two leaf spring members whose width is substantiallyequal to the depth of said slots, the two members of each pair havingtheir respective forward ends spaced from each other and substantiallyflush with the respective lateral walls of one of said respective slotsand having their respective rear ends in pressure engagement with eachother.

6. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behind said conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, braking means engageable with the cards for decelerating the cardtravel speed in said slots, a stack magazine disposed beneath saidrollers for receiving the deflected cards and having two lateral wallsextending upwardly toward said two rollers along said respectiveopposite sides, and a guide member having a surface inclined downwardlyfrom said entering plane in said conveying direction and spaced ahead ofsaid braking means a distance smaller than the card length, whereby acard issuing from said stacking rollers engages said surface and isthereby guided downwardly between said lateral walls of said magazinebefore the rear end of the card is released to drop into said magazine.

7. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behindsaid conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, braking means engageable with the cards in said slots fordecelerating the card travel speed, a stack magazine disposed beneathsaid rollers for receiving the deflected cards and having a front wallextending upwardly toward said entering plane and transverse to saidconveying path at a location spaced forward of said braking meansrelative to the card travel direction, a roller downwardly spaced fromsaid plane and having a rotational axis transverse to said path, saidroller being engageable on its top by cards dropping from said stackingrollers and having at the card-engaging top a direction of rotationtoward said front wall, said roller being spaced from said front wall adistance substantially equal to the card length, whereby the cards arestacked adjacent to said front wall.

8. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said arriving cards, feed means forissuing the cards from the device, said feed means being spaced forwardfrom said conveying means in the conveying direction of the latter, carddeflector means mounted between said conveying means and said feed meansand engageable with the cards for deflecting the rear end of the issuingcards from said entering plane of the arriving cards, said deflectormeans comprising two rollers have respective axes of rotationsubstantially parallel to the card conveying direction and beingarranged along opposite sides respectively of the card conveying path,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards, said rollers havingmutually opposed directions of rotation for deflecting the issuingcards, and braking means for retarding the issuing cards, said slotsbeing inclined relative to the roller axis an amount corresponding tothe roller rotation so as to provide for said cards a travel path ofsubstantially constant height along said rotating slots.

9. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for conveying the arriving cards to alocation at which the cards leave the conveying means, said conveyingmeans defining an entering plane for said arriving cards, means forretarding the cards leaving said conveying means, and deflector meanscarrying said retarding means and located at a position spaced forwardfrom said conveying means, said deflector means being engageable withthe leaving cards along a continuous length thereof for deflecting thetrailing ends of the leaving cards from said entering plane, whereby theleading ends of the arriving cards cannot abut against the trailing endsof the retarded leaving cards.

10. A data-card conveying device according to claim 9, comprising astack magazine for receiving the leaving cards, said magazine having avertical front wall spaced forward of said card retarding means relativeto the card travel direction, and a guide member having a surfaceinclined downwardly forward from said entering plane in said conveyingdirection and spaced forward in said direction from said card retardingmeans for downwardly deflecting the leaving cards being stacked intosaid magazine.

11. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behind said conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, said slots being inclined relative to the roller axis anamountcorre sponding to the roller rotation so' as to provide for saidcards a travel path of substantially constant height along said rotatingslots, and braking means mounted on said rollers and engageable with thecards in said slots for decelerating the card travel speed.

12. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behind said conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, said slots being inclined relative to the roller axis an amountcorresponding to the roller rotation so as to provide for said cards atravel path of substantially constant height along said rotating slots,and braking means mounted on said rollers and' engageable with the cardsin said slots for decelerating the card travel speed, said braking meanscomprising springs mounted at the rear ends of said slots relative tothe card travel direction and frictionally engageable with the cards insaid slots.

13. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behind said conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, said slots being inclined relative to the roller axis an amountcorresponding to the roller rotation so as to provide for said cards atravel path of substantially constant height along said rotating slots,and braking means mounted on said rollers and engageable with the cardsin said slots for decelerating the card travel speed, said braking meanscomprising V-shaped pairs of leaf springs mounted at the rear ends ofsaid slots relative to said conveying direction, each of said pairshaving two leaf spring members whose width is substantially equal to thedepth of said slots, the two members of each pair having theirrespective forward ends spaced from each other and substantially flushwith the respective lateral walls of one of said respective slots andhaving their respective rear ends in pressure engagement with eachother.

14. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behind said conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, said slots being inclined relative to the roller axis an amountcorresponding to the roller rotation so as to provide for said cards atravel path of substantially constant height along said rotating slots,braking means engageable with the cards for decelerating the card travelspeed in said slots, a stack magazine disposed beneath said rollers forreceiving the deflected cards and having two lateral walls extendingupwardly toward said two rollers along said respective opposite sides,and a guide member having a surface inclined downwardly from saidentering plane in said conveying direction and spaced ahead ofsaidbraking means a distance smaller than the card length, whereby acard issuing from said stacking rollers engages said surface and isthereby guided downwardly between said lateral walls of said magazinebefore the rear end of the card is released to drop into said magazine.

15. Conveying device for stacking data cards which arrive in succession,comprising conveying means for the arriving cards, said conveying meansdefining an entering plane for said cards, two stacking rollers havingrespective axes of rotation substantially parallel to the card conveyingdirection and being arranged behind said conveying means along oppositesides respectively of the card conveying path in said entering plane,each of said rollers having peripherally distributed longitudinal slotsengageable by respective lateral edges of the cards coming from saidconveying means in said entering plane, said rollers having mutuallyopposed directions of rotation for downwardly deflecting the respectivecards, said slots being inclined relative to the roller axis an amountcorresponding to the roller rotation so as to provide for said cards atravel path of substantially constant height along said rotating slots,braking means engageable with the cards in said slots for deceleratingthe card travel speed, a stack magazine disposed beneath said rollersfor receiving the deflected cards and having a front wall extendingupwardly toward said entering plane and transverse to said conveyingpath at a location spaced forward of said braking means relative to thecard travel direction, a roller downwardly spaced from said plane andhaving a rotational axis transverse to said path, said roller being 9 10engageable on its top by cards dropping from said stacking 2,925,271 2/1960 Faeber 27187 rollers and having at the card-engaging top adirection of 3,026,107 3/ 1962' Stroud 27058 rotation toward said frontWall, said roller being spaced 3,056,321 10/1962 Walsh 27188 X from saidfront wall a distance substantially equal to the card length, wherebythe cards are stacked adjacent to 5 FOREIGN PATENTS sald front wall-152,142 10/1920 Great Britain.

References Cited by the Examiner M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENTS ,E 2,010,732 8/1935 Mandusic 10 RAPHAELMLUPQROBERTB REEVES xammers

1. CONVEYING DEVICE FOR STACKING DATA CARDS WHICH ARRIVE IN SUCCESSION,COMPRISING CONVEYING MEANS FOR THE ARRIVING CARDS, SAID CONVEYING MEANSDEFINING AN ENTERING PLANE FOR SAID ARRIVING CARDS, FEED MEANS FORISSUING THE CARDS FROM THE DEVICE, SAID FEED MEANS BEING SPACED FORWARDFROM SAID CONVEYING MEANS IN THE CONVEYING DIRECTION OF THE LATTER, CARDDEFLECTOR MEANS MOUNTED BETWEEN SAID CONVEYING MEANS AND SAID FEED MEANSAND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE CARDS FOR DEFLECTING THE REAR END OF THE ISSUINGCARDS FROM SAID ENTERING PLANE OF THE ARRIVING CARDS, SAID DEFLECTORMEANS COMPRISING TWO BLADE WHEELS MOUNTED ON OPPOSITE SIDES RESPECTIVELYOF THE CARD CONVEYING PATH AND HAVING RADIALLY PROTRUDING BLADESENGAGEABLE WITH RESPECTIVE LATERAL PORTIONS OF THE CARDS FOR DEFLECTINGTHE CARDS, SAID BLADE WHEELS HAVING MUTUALLY OPPOSED DIRECTIONS OFROTATION AND THE BLADES OF EACH BLADE WHEEL HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY PLANARSURFACES EXTENDING AT A RIGHT ANGLE TO THE ROTATIONAL AXIS OF SAID BLADEWHEEL, SAID AXIS BEING INCLINED TO THE PLANE OF THE CARD TO CAUSE SAIDBLADES WHEN ROTATING TO DEFLECT THE CARD, AND BRAKING MEANS FORRETARDING THE ISSUING CARDS.